170V, but 4.5 AWA-History PhD-What should I do?

[Paige C.]

I’m a third-year undergrad looking to apply to top History PhD programs in Fall 2020. I scored a 170V, 157Q, but only a 4.5 AWA. I also made the mistake of sending those scores to my top choice schools. I have a 4.00 GPA after 60 hours at an elite public university, and I think I’ll have good LORs. Am I still able to gain admission to Yale, Princeton, Stanford, etc. with only a 4.5 AWA?

[Dachyman]

You're scores will absolutely be no problem! In other words, they will not be the reason you do not get into the schools you listed in the unlikely event that that is the case.

In general, programs only pay attention to you AWA if its beneath a 4.0. Furthermore, the AWA carries lesser weight than your V/Q scores. Lastly, US grad schools are seeing a trend of de-emphasizing the GRE anyways. 

Good luck in the upcoming application cycle!

 

 

[Yuan4208]

4.5 is typically about average for accepted students in most programs. AWA typically doesn't carry as much weight as Verbal/Quant sections so no need to worry at all. Congrats on nailing the verbal section!